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Commissioners press staff on EMS overtime after nonemergency transport changes
Summary
Commissioners and staff debated why EMS overtime is high; EM director John explained 24-hour shift scheduling builds in overtime (an estimated $300,000–$350,000 a year), while staff said nonemergency transport revenue partly offsets costs but does not eliminate built-in overtime.
A large portion of the meeting focused on overtime in emergency services after the county restructured nonemergency transport staff into EMS roles. Commissioners asked whether returning to a stand‑alone nonemergency transport unit would reduce overtime costs; EM director John (speaker 9) and county manager (speaker 5) said the scheduling model—24 hours on, 72 off—creates built‑in overtime and that, even without nonemergency transports, a significant amount of overtime remains necessary to staff 24‑hour operations.
John explained the math to commissioners: "There is 24 hours of overtime for one person in a pay period," and that the staffing model creates several built‑in overtime hours per employee across pay periods; he estimated built‑in overtime would run roughly $300,000–$350,000 annually. County staff noted that between July and December they recorded about $260,000 in revenue from nonemergency transport activity, which helps offset EMS costs but does not eliminate structural overtime created by shift patterns and staffing needs. Several commissioners requested a special session to analyze overtime drivers and identify policy changes or schedule alternatives; no immediate action was taken at the meeting.
